Saturdays in the Park
by ifonly13
Summary: "A memory captured."


_A/N: This started as a drabble prompt on tumblr. It blew itself out of proportion to a semi-formed story instead of a quick drabble. So I'm posting it here._

_There's mention of a certain person that my readers may recognize..._

_**Disclaimer: Nope. Not even a little bit.**  
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><p>The trips to the park happened every Saturday. It was a date that the both of them had promised to keep even if deadlines were fast approaching or a case was sitting on the desk. For Saturday, nothing but the three of them mattered.<p>

So, like every Saturday, they stepped out of the cab and Castle immediately had to run after the infant. Kate paid the driver, catching up to the other two as Castle swung Roy up onto his shoulders. They were chattering about what to do first, a hot debate going on between the swings and the slide.

"He loves this day, you know."

Kate turned as Alexis slid up next to her, her bookbag slung over her shoulder. "Yeah. I sort of love it too."

Alexis smiled, watching her father pull her half-brother down from his shoulders, helping him climb the stairs up to the top of the slide. "It reminds him of when we used to go to the park when I was little."

"It just gives him a chance to act like a kid in public without people staring," Kate joked as she lowered herself onto a bench along the side of the park.

"You have a valid point. Listen, as much as I would love to stay, I have a paper due tomorrow that needs tweaking." Alexis leaned over, brushing a quick kiss over Kate's cheek. "Tell them both I love them?"

"Of course, Alexis."

The girl jogged over to the street, catching a cab. Alexis tried to meet them at the park when she could, but with finals coming up, college was taking over most of her time. Any time not dedicated to classes was allocated to looking for internships before she graduated in a year. Alexis moved non-stop, just like Castle but with her energies more focused than her father.

"Mommy!"

Kate looked up as her son barreled toward her on unsteady feet. She caught him right before he banged his chin on her knee, placing her on the bench next to her. "What's up, kid?"

"Daddy and I did the slide!"

Castle came over, dragging a hand through his hair as he came to a stop. He couldn't resist placing a kiss on his wife's lips as she smiled up at him. "Yes, we did, Roy." Another quick kiss before he grabbed up Roy, setting him on his lap and cuddling against Kate. "You feeling okay?" he asked, his voice quiet as he whispered into her ear.

Kate ran her hand over her stomach, resting her head on his shoulder. "Mostly. Still feeling a little queasy."

"We can cut today short if you-"

She cut him off with a finger to his lips. "No way. I want to spend the day with my men." She leaned over to her son, ruffling his head of brown hair. "You want to go dig in the dirt with Mommy?"

Castle placed a hand on her lower back, giving her help to get up as she took Roy's hand and started toward the sandbox. Her morning sickness with this pregnancy was lasting longer than it had with Roy. The doctors said it was completely normal, that not all pregnancies followed the same formula, but that didn't stop him from hating seeing her so pale as she finally walked into the kitchen for breakfast.

When he looked up from his hands, he saw that Kate was sitting on the edge of the sandbox, showing Roy the best way to scoop the sand with his hands. Her hair was loose, tumbling down around her face as she laughed at her son's first attempts at making a hole in the sand.

As slyly as he could, Castle slipped his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of them, the photo not accurately capturing his wife's beauty or their son's elation at the digging adventure. Kate was laughing, reaching in to help Roy make a neat pile of sand next to him as he poked at the pile. She was making sure he didn't rub his eyes with his sand-encrusted hands when Castle came to sit next to her.

"Future architect in the family?" he asked, placing a hand on her five months pregnant stomach.

She covered his hand with hers, giving it a squeeze. "Perhaps."

Roy slammed his hand onto the pile of sand with a giggle that rang out through the park.

"Then again, maybe not." She was laughing as she spoke, turning to face him. "Maybe deconstruction?"

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><p>Two days later, a wrapped box appeared on her desk at work. Castle was spending the day at home, writing up a final edit of his next book and watching Roy. Esposito and Ryan had a suspect in interrogation from the current case, leaving her alone in the bullpen with her paperwork and this mystery box.<p>

She slid her finger under the wrapping, folding the dark blue paper up and setting it aside as she took the lid off. Nestled in a bed of tissue paper was a framed photo of her and Roy playing in the sandbox. A note was tucked into the corner of the silver frame, his handwriting so familiar now that just seeing it made her smile.

_A memory captured._

The three words left Kate grinning for the rest of the day. She pulled the little stand from the back of the frame, setting it on her desk next to one from their wedding day and another of the two of them holding the newborn Roy.

When she finally opened the door to the loft at the end of the day, Roy crashing into her leg with a hug, Kate couldn't resist threading her hands through her husband's hair and pulling his lips down for a fierce kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered against his lips before she propped Roy up on her hip and walking over to place him on the counter as she started dinner.

He handed Roy a piece of cheese as she started grating a chunk for homemade macaroni-and-cheese, his hands sneaking around her waist as he pressed a kiss to her neck. "You are oh-so welcome, Kate."

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><p><em>AN: Do we like? I was inspired not only by the prompt given to me by socutherthehelldown on tumblr but also by that final scene in Nanny McDead (1.02) with Castle looking at the photo of him and Alexis in the park._

_Review away while you still have the ability before Kill Shot airs tonight. I know most of the fandom is prepared to die._


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